Wireless service providers have improved their performance and non-contract customers have taken notice, according to this week’s J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. Wireless Non-Contract Customer Satisfaction Study.
In fact, customers have responded favorably to new service offerings and aggressive pricing strategies as well. The study, now in its fifth year, measures customer satisfaction with current non-contract wireless service across six key factors in order of importance: performance and reliability (31%); cost of service (21%); account management (17%); initial activation (12%); offerings and promotions (12%); and customer service (7%).
Overall satisfaction improved by 16 index points from 2009. Satisfaction with operators offerings and promotions increased by 33 points — the largest factor-level increase from 2009. A large part of the improvement was from better educating customers about new services and the variety of service options.
"It's encouraging to see that industry-wide service improvements, such as expanded service offerings and aggressive service plan pricing, have resulted in higher satisfaction with wireless service experiences," said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates.
However, operators can’t rest on these numbers, Parsons said. “Customer expectations will continue to rise as wireless users increasingly rely on the communication functions of their cell phones beyond voice calling. With the addition of features such as unlimited text messaging and video sharing plans, non-contract service offerings are beginning to match postpaid offerings, which will contribute further to the increase in customer expectations," he said.
The study also finds that satisfaction with performance and reliability improved by 20 points from 2009, particularly regarding coverage and connection issues. Parsons said these improvements in performance and reliability are also positive indicators that providers – particularly those that own and operate their own networks – are expanding their coverage beyond the predetermined local calling area to meet the increasing demands of customers who want to use their service while roaming.
Satisfaction among customers with pay-as-you-go plans is slightly higher than that of customers with monthly plans. However, there are significant performance differences between the two segments, which are driven mainly by performance and reliability, cost of service and account management.
The operator with the highest rank in overall customer satisfaction was NET10. It did particularly well in three of the six factors that drive overall satisfaction: performance and reliability; cost of service; and account management. Also ranking at or above the industry average are TracFone, Boost Mobile, MetroPCS and Virgin Mobile.
The study also found that pay-as-you-go customers spend an average of $37 for each airtime purchase in 2010, an increase of $2 from 2009. Monthly non-contract users spend an average of $25 less per month than contract users ($59 versus $84.)
Despite this good performance, 15 percent of customers say they plan to switch service provider in the next year and 36 percent of these plan to move to contract services.
